Business
A Sign Of Things To Come?
The day job took the GUARDIAN to the resort town of Traverse City, Michigan last week where we enjoyed an easy visit thanks to directional signs posted at nearly every intersection. The locals call them “way signs,” but regardless of what they are called, they are just what we have been calling for in Boise […]
Former Trash Now Fuels Controversy
Seems there just isn’t enough trash to go around these days. When Ada County entered into a deal with Foristar to capture methane gas at Hidden Hollow Landfill and burn it in an engine turning a turbine generating electricity, it made sense. For several years the county has made a couple hundred thousand bucks annually […]
Should State Be In Business of Business?
Here is another opinion piece being presented at the Repub Convention at Twin Falls this week. Disclaimer: The GUARDIAN will gladly post rebuttals, comments, or other topical items from any other party or individual. By Bob Forrey The Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter, Sec. Of State Ben Ysursa, Supt. of […]
Personal Property Tax May End
Idaho’s personal property tax–an annual levy on equipment used in businesses–may end soon if industry lobbyists and Gov. Butch Otter get their way, according to a recent REPORT in the Daily Paper. At a weekend meeting of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry (IACI) the Guv said his position is evolving on that issue. […]
Booze Chief Flips Over Polygamy Vodka
One of these days a government politico is gonna come out and say, “Sorry. I screwed up and I was wrong about that.” It apparently ain’t happening at the Idaho Liquor Dispensary. The booze office was threatened with a couple of lawsuits in federal court for banning “Five Wives” vodka, so they blinked. In a […]
GBAD “Directional Plan” Keeps Visitors Aimless
Since the GUARDIAN has advocated directional signs at major Boise intersections for more than 5 years, we were encouraged to receive the minutes from an April 6 Greater Boise Auditorium District (G-BAD) meeting which discussed “directional statements.” We read things like, “…meetings to determine directional statements…make sure we are on the right path…state how where […]
Booze Chief Sensitive To LDS Polygamy
The Washington Post features a local AP story in Today’s edition that’s sure to make the Leno and Letterman monologues. Seems there is a new Vodka product on the market called FIVE WIVES. Idaho State Liquor Division administrator Jeff Anderson said the brand is offensive to Mormons who make up over a quarter of Idaho’s […]
Zonda Bus Not Stopping In Boise Anytime Soon
Amid great fanfare last May, Chinese bus manufacturer Zonda announced it had selected Boise as its USA headquarters to make electric buses. The politicos, Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development people all gushed at attracting a major manufacturer of electric buses and up to 1,000 jobs. A year later the bus still hasn’t made its stop, […]
Dynamis Project Is A Major Power Outage After DEQ Suspends Work On Permit
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has stopped working on the Dynamis permit–which had been on a fast track application schedule. DEQ officials say the application is incomplete and cite details in a highly TECHNICAL LETTER to Dynamis which was released today. The GUARDIAN has also learned the plan called for water supplied by United Water […]
Ullman Ousted, Case In Line For Appointment
Ada Commish Sharon Ullman self destructed in the primary election, paving the the way for Gov. Butch Otter to appoint Dave Case to fill the remaining six months of the seat vacated by Vern Bisterfeldt. Case garnered 11,471 votes to Ullman’s 9833 for a 54-46% victory. The Ada County Republican Central Committee meets Thursday to […]
Some Educated Thoughts To Consider
Its an annual event this time of year: students graduate either high school or college, there are inspiring stories of old immigrants getting degrees, students overcoming emotional and financial hurdles, and of course politicos making commencement addresses to show they are “pro education.” Just today we encountered a couple of youngsters (nearly everyone is a […]
County Outbids Citizen For Land
Jeff Wood lives in Hidden Springs and for years has dreamed of building his “dream home” atop a rugged bluff north of his current residence. He contacted the owner, only to learn the property was in the midst of a legal battle and subsequent foreclosure action. He followed the land dealings through the legal process […]
Politico Takes Dynamis And Beer Seller Payments
Looks like freshman Congressman Raul Labrador has taken money from Lloyd Mahaffey, the controversial CEO of Dynamis. Interesting to note back taxes in Boise County go unpaid while political payments are made. Betsy Russell of the SPOKESMAN-Review lists Mahaffey as a contributor to Labrador–who happens to live in Eagle where Dynamis is based–to the the […]
Sparks Fly As Dynamis Deal Short Circuits
Several interesting developments today in the saga of Dynamis Energy’s proposed waste-to-energy project at the Ada County landfill. Commissioner Sharon Ullman has publicly claimed Ada County spent $2 million for design plans for the waste-to-energy facility and the money will be repaid once construction begins or is approved. Today after long consideration the GUARDIAN has […]
Dynamis Looks Like “Garbage In, Garbage Out”
The DAILY PAPER posted a well done summary Thursday of the various short circuits experienced by an Eagle firm seeking to build a “waste-to-energy” facility at the county dump. Cynthia Sewell– publicly cited by Commish Sharon Ullman for her award winning reporting on the issue–told readers Dynamis and its CEO, Lloyd Mahaffey have refused to […]
Assets vs Liabilities In Banking, A lesson
Boise’s SYRINGA BANK is in trouble and faces a merger or takeover from state and federal regulators because it’s capital level is less than 10% of its assets. Terms used to describe banks are somewhat reverse of what we normally think. When we DEPOSIT funds in a bank–savings, checking, or CDs–the institution shows that as […]
Daily Paper Promotes On Line Neighbor Site
DISCLAIMER–The GUARDIAN has never been to an ATM machine, rarely uses the drive up teller at a bank, fakes confusion for automated “check in” at the airlines, has never sent an electronic birthday card, and generally prefers to talk face-to-face with tellers, agents, friends, and other humans. When we saw the majority of Monday’s front […]
Ice World Policies Skating On Thin Ice
After the fiasco over 11-13 year old hockey players being forced to use the lobby of Idaho Ice World to change instead of a locker room as punishment for the action of a single player, the GUARDIAN has been flooded not only with comments, but more news tips. We have “done our homework” regarding the […]
A New Month Brings Hope For Future
This morning we awakened to all sorts of good news. First it was Team Dave announcing they have abandoned plans for not only a downtown baseball park, but they also promised to not use any public money to further the desire named Streetcar (also known as the Trolley Folly). Next thing we heard was the […]
Melt Down At Boise’s Idaho Ice World Continues
Plagued by theft, conflict of interest, a midnight Zamboni run to Burger King, the infamous “strip hockey,” and rowdy boys having fun drinking and mooning, Boise’s City-owned Idaho Ice World can now add forcing young boys to disrobe in public to its credit. When young men were participating in a game of “strip hockey,” at […]
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